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The Republic of Costa Rica is a country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north and Panama to the south-southeast. Since the civil war of 1948 that brought President Jose Figueres Ferrer to power, the country has been free of violent political conflict. Figueres also abolished the military and today, Costa Rica has only a national police force. Unlike most of its continental neighbors, Costa Rica, alongside Uruguay, is seen as an exceptional example of political stablity in the region, and sometimes refered to as the "Switzerland of Latin America."

Costa Rica is located on the Central American isthmus, 10° North of the equator and 84° West of the Prime Meridian. It borders both the Caribbean Sea (to the east) and the North Pacific Ocean (to the west), with a total of 1,290km of coastline (212km on the Caribbean coast and 1016km on the Pacific). Costa Rica also borders Nicaragua to the north (309km of border) and Panama to the south-southeast (639km of border). In total, Costa Rica comprises 51,100 km,² of which 50,660 km² is land and 440 km² is water, making it slightly smaller than the U.S. state of West Virginia and about half the size of Ireland.

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